Fire Valley Academy
by Gavvy Wolf-Kidd
Summary: Fire Valley Academy is a boarding school nestled safely in Wales. All pupils graduate as perfect citizens. Parents hail the miracle, but school band Torchwood are about to prove that something even more shocking is afoot. Please comment!
1. The Calling

**The Calling**

_Welcome to Fire Valley Academy-, the world's most prestigious of boarding schools! Set in the quiet countryside of the Welsh Beacon, your son or daughter will gain the skills and experience necessary to exit the confines of school and enter the pastures of reality as a 'fully-trained' gentleman or lady! _

_There are many lessons which your sons and daughters may take, but herald- there are also many compulsory subjects which develop a core part of the curriculum here at Fire Valley!_

_Sons__; Chivalry, ballroom dance, martial arts, archery and etiquette._

_Daughters__; Etiquette, ballroom dance, ballet, music and mannerism._

_Your child will enjoy such events as sport tournaments, dance and music recitals, idiomic debates in Latin, Greek, French and countless other languages!_

_There is no applying to Fire Valley... Fire Valley will scout schools around the world and will take only those with potential! The best will have to make do with their current surroundings._

_Thank you for regarding the Fire Valley Academy prospectus- we look forward to meeting your son or daughter within a week of your notification._

Ianto Jones looked nervously around the wide green pastures of the courtyard. This school was obviously _too_ good for a kid like him, what with its fountains in the middle of the yard and the hedges which outlined the school like a prison cell. _Yep,_ he said to himself, _too good for a kid like _me. He was sixteen, tall and scrawny with sallow white skin and blue eyes that were so dark they were often mistaken for the brown that coloured the stubborn hair on his head which never wanted to leave that weird, ruffled curve that people dared to call a 'hairstyle'. His mother had taken the honour of picking his clothes out that morning- a white shirt with silver pinstripes highlighted with a silver silk tie, a tight black suit and a cardboard-stiff waistcoat. Of course, Ianto had protested that he wanted to wear his jeans and a one of the many worn-out, thick cotton jumpers hanging in his wardrobe that got the job done better than anything else. But his mum had insisted that he wore that... strangely comfortable outfit. _Hmm_, Ianto thought, looking in one of the mirrors which decorated the hedges and taking a rare moment of vanity to admire how good he looked in his ensemble. _Maybe I should wear suits more often_...

Gwen Cooper didn't want to get out of the big black car and into the cold greyness of the courtyard which stood hauntingly outside of the majestic Welsh castle standing smugly in front of her. She was beaten- that was all she knew. Her father had wanted her to go to a boarding school and she hadn't. Her father had won when that stupid prospectus had come tumbling through the post-box. She performed better in sports and science, and had wanted to continue them at this school while her father raged that she should take history, music and dance. Again, her dad won when she saw the "parents may choose which subjects their child studies whilst in attendance" clause on the 'curriculum' page of the prospectus. She could go on and on describing how beaten she was and how miserable she knew she would be while at Fire Valley, but it would have been futile, so she slumped out of the car in the navy satin dress and white pumps her dad forced her to wear and solemnly made her way across the green landscape.

Jack Harkness was excited about attending a 21st-Century United Kingdom boarding school, and how different it would be from his old school in 51st-Century America. What he _wasn't_ excited about was the fact that he would be forced to study Greek. Not that he had a problem with it- he just didn't care much for languages. Now aviation- _that_ was his calling! He loved planes, and kept dreaming about what he would be called when he got back and joined the Time Agency- _Captain_ Jack. Oh, how he loved the sound of it! The 21st-Century looked a lot better than what Jack had seen in his history classes- he had seen pictures of starving people, wars and nuclear destruction. But this... this place was what he would have called paradise! Yeah, the sky was a little grey, and maybe the air smelled a little funky, but the grass was so green and the school itself simply _screamed_ perfection! This place surely _had_ to be better than that crumbling community building he was attending at home...

Lisa and Owen looked across the yard at the three new students- the solemn dark-haired girl in satin, the scrawny, obviously-bashful, pitiable boy in the handsome suit and the dark-haired, out-of-time boy in the casual slacks and dress shirt- from their hiding place behind the oak tree shadowing over the small alleyway between the hedges and the school. "So naive," Owen whispered to Lisa, "I bet they never grew up where we did."

"London?" Lisa gave a half-laugh. "Not even London prepared _us_ for this place, so these kids are in for Hell."

"That may be, Lis," Owen mused, raising his head slightly, "but maybe we could give these kids a hand with this place."

"What do you mean?" Lisa looked at him, uncertain.

"We befriend them," Owen said, keeping his eyes on the kids and their families, "so that way they won't be alone 'ere. You know, so they'll 'ave some mates. We owe to them, after what 'appened to us."

"I 'spose you're right, Owen." Lisa sighed, "But remember- don't mention what happened to Suzie- they'll find out in due course.

"Deal."

The Principal could see his three new pupils approaching. He couldn't help but smile in triumph. He and his brothers, along with the _Others,_ could now take their long-awaited revenge on mankind...


	2. Good Morning

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TORCHWOOD OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. NOR DO I OWN THE SONGS USED IN THIS STORY. WELL, EXCEPT FOR ONE- BUT I WROTE THAT BY MYSELF ANYWAY. GUESS WHICH ONE IT IS- IT'LL BE USED LATER ON.**

**SORRY FOR ANY OFFENCE OR WHATEVER CAUSED (IF ANY) BY ANYTHING IN THIS STORY. **

**PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO REVIEW THIS STORY- THE MORE FEEDBACK, THE BETTER I CAN MAKE THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS.**

**Good Morning**

Gwen woke up with a start, and then she realised exactly where she was and what had happened the previous day. She gave a groan as she swung her legs off the bed and stretched.

"Mornin' doll face!" Said a voice from the other side of the room. Gwen gasped and looked up. Sat across from her on the other bed on the opposite side of the room was a black girl with her hair in a bob, wearing white pyjamas decorated with Winnie the Pooh and his jar of 'hunny'. "My name's Lisa. I'm from London. I woke up about half an hour ago, and it's the school's custom that you wait for your roommate to wake before you shower."

"Huh?" Gwen mumbled, still orientating herself to her surroundings.

"Basically," Lisa explained, calm as a cucumber, "we have to have a tepid shower before we go down for breakfast- that's about the best thing here, by the way, meals being served fourteen hours of the day- it's something about stimulating neural synapses or whatever, and to teach us respect, us with roommates have to wait until said roomies have woken up before we can do anything."

"Oh." Gwen yawned. Suddenly she was on her feet and being dragged towards what she assumed to be the bathroom. "Hey, hey, hey!" She protested, trying to make Lisa let go.

"Oh come on," Lisa turned to her, "you have to shower- school policy. Haven't I mentioned that bit? Anyway, hang around me today- your lessons will be the same as mine for today while you get used to this place. Your timetable will be here tonight before bedtime."

Ianto woke up. Normally, it would be to the sound of traffic and other urban noises. Today, he woke up to bucolic peace. A couple of birds singing, and maybe the sound of a nearby lake. He yawned and stretched, looking around the room. The walls were pristine white, and there were three beds in total- all made from ash wood with plain tan bedding- and all along the same wall, facing the door. He looked around, and saw two other boys. One had dark hair, and was hanging upside down off the edge of the bed. The other was a kid who looked as though he was always giving sarcastic criticism. It was the latter who spoke, albeit in a heavy cockney accent; "You two. Shower. Now." Ianto complied straight away, and the dark-haired boy gave an annoyed grunt. Although Ianto wasn't an expert on dialect, he guessed that this boy was American.

The bathroom wasn't as impressive as Ianto had thought; there were separate cubicles (three- one for each member of the room) and coat hooks screwed to the perfect purple-tiled wall. As he undressed and stepped into the nearest cubicle, Ianto thought himself to be a robot- he did everything he was told, everything he did had a strange mechanic to it and he spoke with an apathetic- or, as his father put it, a computerised- tone to his voice. Although he didn't perform well in his exams at school, he still knew quite a lot, and _that_ was thanks to a gigantic collection of encyclopaedias and archival journals he had collected over the past three years.

A few minutes later...

The dining hall. Some would consider a dining hall to be a place of joy or good humour. Possibly due to the excitement one can boast by starting food fights and taking part in eating competitions. Others- the ones in attendance at boarding schools such as Fire Valley Academy- would not consider the dining hall as fun, rather, they would describe it as; "a dull oak-panelled room big enough to fit a couple of thousands of people, with what may be the only plus to the entire school- food served fourteen hours per day. Even if it _is_ healthy, it's still food." This was how Owen Harper and his- only- friend Lisa Hallett chose to see it.

"Yo, Owe!" A girl's voice called out to the teenage cockney boy. Owen looked over, and saw the coffee-skinned girl waving to him.

"C'mon boys!" He cocked his head over to the table, and Jack and Ianto followed his lead to sit with the dark-skinned girl and her friend. "Jack," Owen gave another head-cock to the American, "and Ianto." He cocked his head to the Welsh boy who was bashfully bowing his head with anxiety. Owen ignored this and asked; "You two, this is Lisa Hallett. Lisa- who's yours?"

"Gwen Cooper," Lisa answered kindly. "And they're not objects on the cattle market. Look- you've made Ianto all self-conscious!" Ianto looked up... and into what had to be the prettiest sight he had seen in the past twenty-four hours. The girl- Lisa- was breathtakingly gorgeous. She had a round face with kind brown eyes. Ianto stuttered a "No- its okay" when he saw her.

"Aw, are you sure, love?" She looked sympathetic, tilting her head slightly to the left. "You look like you're worrying about something."

Owen answered for him. "C'mon, Lis- they're all like that. Everyone in this bloody _room_ was like that when they first got 'ere. Give 'em a week 'n they'll be fine."

"Fine, Owe." Lisa sighed.

"Just out of curiosity," everybody on the table looked at the Jack, the American kid. "Why _exactly_ are we here? No offence to you guys, but it can't be because we're all super-geniuses who can save the world. I mean, the school I was going to before here wasn't exactly the kind where you find prodigies- more like the kind that could spawn tomorrow's bank robber."

Gwen and Lisa giggled. Ianto just smiled, but Owen seemed to be taking Jack's question into serious consideration.

"How can I put it simply?" He mused. "Basically, there's something the governors or whatever for this school have called 'The Potential Ruler'. If they think you've got the potential to do something great but lack the discipline, then you're shipped here to get trained up and whatnot."

_That makes sense_, Gwen thought. "But what do you two think?" She found herself asking.

"Well," Lisa looked at Owen with a strange look. "Funny enough Owen wrote a song about it the other day." Owen's eyes skyrocketed.

"Er..." He moaned, eyes darting to-and-fro, as though looking for an escape route.

"Wow," Jack muttered, impressed. "A man who can write."

"I wonder if he sings, too." Gwen smiled.

"Oh, he does." Lisa laughed with good humour.

_Shit!_ Owen shouted in his head. He could feel his face heating with the fires of Hell. _She's enjoying this! I don't fucking Eve it!_

Everyone on the table was staring at him. Amongst the general colloquial chatter of the meagre habitants of the dining hall, he could feel Lisa, Gwen, Ianto and Jack burning him with their eyes to sing his song. Eventually, he gave in.

"Right," he breathed, "I'll sing, but only if you guys promise not to laugh. And if you click your fingers in a steady rhythm- that always helps." Smiling, they began to click their fingers as instructed- in a cool, steady rhythm. Owen felt the urge to stand, as he sang, so that's what he did;

"_They're gonna clean up your looks  
With all the lies in the books  
To make a citizen out of you  
Because they sleep with a gun  
And keep an eye on you, son  
So they can watch all the things you do_"

He jumped on top of the table.

"_Because the drugs never work  
They're gonna give you a smirk  
'Cause they got methods of keeping you clean  
They're gonna rip up your heads,  
Your aspirations to shreds  
Another cog in the murder machine_

"_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me  
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed  
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose  
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me_

The boys and girls in the clique  
The awful names that they stick He looked directly at Gwen_  
You're never gonna fit in much, kid_ He looked at Jack_  
But if you're troubled and hurt _He looked at Ianto_  
What you got under your shirt  
Will make them pay for the things that they did_"

As he reached the chorus, everyone in the hall seemed to grab the lyrics and joined in with the finger-clicking and clapping: __

"_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me  
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed  
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose  
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me_

_They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me  
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed  
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose  
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me!_"

"MR. HARPER!" Owen turned and saw The Principal, his sleeked-back grey hair shining with anger in concurrence with his hard hazel eyes. He stood there, proud as ever, in his plain grey suit, shining like an angelic omen in the florescent light of the hall.

_Shit_. Owen thought. _I'm fucked now._

"I think that you, Miss Hallett, Mr. Harkness, Mr. Jones and Miss Cooper had better come with me. _Immediately_!" He turned on his heel and strode with antagonism towards the double-doors which marked the entrance into what would soon, quite possibly, be an extension of the graveyard.

Owen jumped off the table and shot and apologetic look at the four students who had been sitting with him on the table.

"Hehe," he laughed weakly, "death sentence on the first day. That has to be a record."

"Shut up, Owe." Lisa grumbled, begrudgingly pushing her way past him while the new kids followed her. After a second of watching them guiltily and a groaned "I said sorry!", he finally followed to his doom...


	3. Light Switch

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TORCHWOOD OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. NOR DO I OWN THE SONGS USED IN THIS STORY. WELL, EXCEPT FOR ONE- BUT I WROTE THAT BY MYSELF ANYWAY. GUESS WHICH ONE IT IS- IT'LL BE USED LATER ON.**

**SORRY FOR ANY OFFENCE OR WHATEVER CAUSED (IF ANY) BY ANYTHING IN THIS STORY. **

**PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO REVIEW THIS STORY- THE MORE FEEDBACK, THE BETTER I CAN MAKE THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS.**

**Light-switch**

"Unbelievable." The Principal bitterly muttered under his breath as he turned to face the five students sitting on the opposite side of his desk. "This absolutely, positively... I can't even _describe _it!"

"We know, sir." Owen mumbled. "But please let the new kids and Lisa go- it _was_ me who was singing, after all. The rest of the kids in the dining hall..." He trailed off, knowing that it wouldn't be worth trying to save the skins of him and the others given the current circumstances.

"Let them _go_?" The Principal looked sickly amused. "Now, look here," he laid his hands to rest on the desk, "I have the right mind to expel the five of you from the school, but I shall make a deal with you. I took to notice that you, Mister Harper, are rather a talented singer, and, perhaps if given the correct tutelage, so may be your friends talented with instruments."

"What are you asking, Principal?" Lisa whimpered, fear glazing her eyes.

"I am asking that you five represent the school." He placed a calm persona over his anger, as though a witch would welcome a young child into her house of horrors.

"As what?" Owen asked, suspiciously.

"A musical ensemble. A rock band. A quintet, take your pick!" The Principal gave a wide toothy smile. "I believe that you five are here for this particular purpose- music!"

"Oh, come on!" Somebody shouted, sounding annoyed. Everybody turned to the source of the outcry- Gwen Cooper, dressed in her dark blue jeans and purple t-shirt, shrinking back with embarrassment into the chair, looking vulnerable and scared.

"Pardon, Miss Cooper?" The Principal was aghast. "Would you care to explain why you felt the need to shout something so curt?"

"Erm..." Gwen was stuck. She didn't know what the hell she was supposed to say, but she heard someone say something in a language she felt more comfortable with- Welsh. She pricked her ears and shifted her eyes sideways... to the young Welshman sitting right next her. Ianto was mumbling in their language, an octave or so just above a whisper so that she could translate; "Say sorry- it'll get us out of here quicker!"

"Sorry, sir." She apologised. "I didn't mean to be discourteous."

"You are forgiven." The Principal gave a quick bow of his head, then continued; "As I was saying, I want you five to write songs, play music and entertain every few weeks at Committee Gatherings. I trust that you shall comply."

There was a silence while everything sunk in, and then Owen understood as he was saying; "Oh, oh yes, Principal. We understand. Now, can we go, please?"

"What the _hell_ did you just get us into?!" Lisa was _fuming_ at Owen. Jack could tell that much. Even though they were sitting beneath the night-light shade of a gigantic oak tree, Lisa's dark face was glowing with anger. She was so furious she was the only one who was standing!

"Come on Lis," said Owen, in that cockney calm voice, "look at it like this; we do something we don't like for an idiot we hate, hence we don't get expelled, hence our parents don't kill us, and therefore we have free reign!"

"_Free reign_?" Lisa squeaked. "How in the name of whatever do we have _free reign_?"

"I think I can explain it." Jack piped up. Owen looked pretty grateful at the prospect of not having to put up with yet another angry earful from Lisa whilst everyone was looking at Jack.

"Go on then, yank!" Lisa seethed. "How exactly do we have free reign?"

"Well," Jack sighed, looking up at the sky, "I know I haven't been here more than twelve hours, but from what I understand of this place is that it's not unlike a dictatorship- you have one guy in charge, bossing people about, the people below him, cowering. Then you have us- the students. While the rest of the students are forcing themselves to study due to the fear of being expelled, we _can't_ be because we are now on the Principal's Good Side. Therefore, all we have to do is write a song every few days, rehearse it with a guitar or piano and then sing every few weeks. In the meantime, we'll have reign to do whatever the hell we want because we 'need inspiration', as all great musicians do."

"Aah," Lisa smiled, taking a seat near Ianto. "I hadn't considered that."

"There's actually more to it," Jack smirked, "but perhaps Owen could let you in on his master plan. Oh, don't look at me like that, Owen! I could tell you were thinking something when we left!" Owen was giving Jack a potent death-stare, obviously annoyed at the fact that somebody had guessed what he was up to.

Lisa let out an intrigued noise and everyone looked at Owen. "It's not even beyond the _embryonic_ stage, yet!" He protested. "Gimme more time to work on it 'n I'll tell you!"

"You have twenty-four hours." Jack smirked. Lisa and Owen smile, along with Ianto and Gwen. It was clear what the four of them were thinking...

"WHAT?!" Jack was terrified. The fear was activated by the light switch movement of Owen's rapid acceptance of the deal the Principal had set them. It was a terrifying feeling, being so vulnerable. He couldn't help but drift away in his thoughts, which happened to spin on a tangent to his own time, where the humans were slaves and toys to an unseen race... Owen brought him back to reality by dragging him to another part of their hiding place- the very end right where the back wall of the castle met with the mirror-lined hedges- to tell him that he, Jack Harkness, was to be the lead singer of the band, and he had to come up with the name.

"Hehe," Owen chuckled, "come on- you're a natural born leader, mate! Just look at how you handled that situation over there- I've never seen anyone talk to Lis like that! Besides- it's _once_ every _few_ weeks."

"Oh, God." Jack buried his face in his hands. He didn't like singing, so therefore he didn't want to do it, even if it _was_ just once every few weeks.

"You don't even have to _write_ the songs," Owen ventured as Jack leant against the hedge, "I'll take care of it. I mean, I wrote Teenagers by myself, didn't I? I have a crap-load more material stuffed under my bed that we could use. C'mon- waddya say?"

Jack groaned. "Okay, I'll fucking do it."

"Brilliant!" Owen's eyes lit up. "Now, what are we going to call ourselves, Captain?"

"Huh?" Jack looked up, confused. "What'd you call me?"

"Captain," Owen shrugged, "I figure we need nicknames, so, well, Captain just suits you more. So, back on topic- what we calling ourselves?"

Jack thought for a moment, and then looked up at the sky. The sun was burning like a torch into Jack's eyes. He looked back at Owen, a woody haze over his vision. Suddenly, inspiration struck. He smiled; "Torchwood."


	4. By Popular Demand

**By Popular Demand**

Contrary to popular belief, Rhys Williams was not the burly, athletic Welsh angel others thought him to be. Sure, he was handsome- his brown hair was cropped neatly into something that wasn't quite a crew-cut, but wasn't quite spiky, his eyes were a shiny shade of saccharine hazel and no matter what he wore, he looked good. He was one to admire himself in the mirror quite a lot, and he took very good care of himself- he exercised for an hour a day, he ate plenty of lean meats and vegetables, and he showered every morning followed by a bubble bath every evening, which was why his features were so angelic, and why he always seemed to smell like a garden of blackcurrants. Everyone who knew him- and those who didn't, for that matter- knew he could have whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted, because he was simply that kind of guy.

Today, he was sporting casual- a pair of light grey skinny-jeans with black Converse trainers and a black dress shirt, topped off with a pair of shades and a gold Crucifix around his neck. He was walking through the courtyard in front of the school, to choruses of "Oh my god- that's him!", "He's so lush!" and "Wow- he's nice!" when he spotted something he liked the look of. She had long, dark hair draped around her shoulders, pale skin, beautiful red lips parted slightly to reveal a gap in milk-white teeth. She was on her own, dressed simply in a plain black t-shirt and black leggings under a tartan skirt with white trainers. She was sitting atop one of the tables by the hedges, reading a book. Instantly, he could tell that this girl was charming as he made his way over to her.

"Hello there," he purred, taking a perch next to her. "You alone, or did the angels set you here as a reminder to the other girls of what beauty truly is?" The girl didn't seem fazed by his attempts because she just kept reading her book.

"What book is that?" Rhys ventured. "It looks interesting." The girl, without taking her eyes off the page she was on, lifted the book to show Rhys the title- "Dracula"- then set it back down to her lap.

"Have you got your file-o-fax yet?" He asked. "I'd love to know if your name suits your beauty."

The girl mumbled something, still unfazed by his flirting. Rhys could make out her accent- she was Welsh, which meant that she would be better suited to him than some of the other non-Welsh girls there were at the school- and those mumbled words caught his breath. They were so beautiful. These three syllables confirmed it- he was in love with Gwen Cooper.

"There you go." Owen shoved something into Jack's hands. Jack looked at it- it was blue, ratty and well-thumbed. On the front, the words "Owen's Songbird" were only just visible beneath the rips and pencil marks which were collected over the past few years.

"What's this?" Jack asked, opening the book to a random page.

"Me songbook." Owen looked down at the floor and kicked the dust with his scuffed blue trainer. "My mum bought it for me the day we found out I got into this place. I wrote the bit about the songbird on the front, just to make it look like I was a sensitive so-n-so to the girls. Fat lot a good that did, then."

"Come on, Harper," Jack said encouragingly, "you're a good-looking guy. And, from what I know of you, you're a pretty smart one, too."

Owen gave a dismissive laugh. "Oh, come on!" Jack sighed. "You're doing Chemistry and Biology, and Mathematics! I don't know anyone else who's doing those subjects! I'm stuck doing Greek, Aviation Mechanics and Numerical Theory. You're the smartest person I've met so far." _Except for Ianto_. Whoa, what was that? Jack shook his head, trying to clear his head of the thought, but it remained.

"I'd rather Numerical Theory," Owen confessed, sitting on his bed. Jack followed suit, sitting on the opposite bed. "Numerical Theory is easier. You don't 'ave to do Algebra, Quadratics, or all that stuff. You just do case studies. Well, I digress. Onto the songs- just thumb through that ev'ry now n then and we'll sing the ones you like."

"I think I like this one." Jack said, pointing to the page he had opened to. Owen got up, looked at the page and smiled.

"So do I."

_About a week later..._

_Torchwood have just finished their final rehearsal... Gwen is playing bass guitar, Ianto is on lead guitar, Owen is on the drums, Lisa is backstage fiddling with the technical equipment, and Jack is busy adjusting his black t-shirt in front of the microphone. The lights dim, and the show begins..._

_Keep you in the dark__  
__You know they all pretend__  
__Keep you in the dark__  
__And so it all began__  
__Send in your skeletons__  
__Sing as their bones go marching in... again__  
__The need you buried deep__  
__The secrets that you keep are at the ready__  
__Are you ready?__  
_

The Principal could believe neither what he was hearing nor what was going on. His breath caught in his throat his eyes bulged, and his mind blew. He had trusted these five to perform and inspire the Students into productivity, _not_ the rowdiness which was taking place all around him- students jumping up and down, screaming their heads off and crying out... the Principal was _outraged_!

_I'm finished making sense__  
__Done pleading ignorance__  
__That whole defence__  
__Spinning infinity, but__  
__The wheel is spinning me__  
__It's never ending, never ending__  
__Same old story__  
_

Gwen has been so busy focusing on the chords of the guitar she was holding, she had been oblivious to the young man in the front row giving her the eye. He had brown hair in a weird spiky crew-cut, brownish eyes, was tall, rather good-looking, and she could only just catch a scent of... was the blackcurrant? Or was it blueberry? It was hard to tell over Jack's overpowering cologne.

_  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?__  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?_

Owen couldn't help but laugh as he saw the Principal's face go from its normal pallid tone to a healthy angered shade of crimson. He had _finally_ done it after these past few months of trying- he had acted on a hunch, but he had _finally _managed to prove that something was up with the Principal.

_  
__In time or so I'm told__  
__I'm just another soul for sale... oh, well__  
__The page is out of print__  
__We are not permanent__  
__We're temporary, temporary__  
__Same old story___

_What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?__  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?___

_I'm the voice inside your head__  
__You refuse to hear__  
__I'm the face that you have to face__  
__Mirrored in your stare__  
__I'm what's left, I'm what's right__  
__I'm the enemy__  
__I'm the hand that will take you down__  
__Bring you to your knees__  
_

Lisa was watching on the cameras inside her little hub backstage. She saw Owen struggle to hide his laughter; Jack, so caught up in the song that he didn't even notice, wave his arms in victory; Gwen smile in pride; Ianto nod his head, bashfully in sync with his fingers strumming on the guitar, at the hundreds of screaming Students. But, what really made her smile was the Principal's mouth, contorted with anger, to reveal a small slip of a grey tongue...

_  
__So who are you?__  
__Yeah, who are you?__  
__Yeah, who are you?__  
__Yeah, who are you?__  
_

Ianto hated being in public places. He dreaded it. He felt completely out of place. He couldn't wait for the song to stop just so that he could run offstage and hide in his room...

_  
__Keep you in the dark__  
__You know they all pretend__  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?__  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?_

Jack felt proud to be up on the stage, singing in front of so many people. He had to admit, he was pretty good. He hadn't been good at much before- just Maths and charming the ladies and gentlemen, but that was really it. He had never considered singing before, but he got to thinking... maybe after he had finished school and got his aviator's licence, then he would probably consider a career in music. He figured that it'd be interesting...

_  
__What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__(Keep you in the dark)__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__(You know they all... pretend)__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?___

_What if I say I'm not like the others?__  
__(Keep you in the dark)__  
__What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?__  
__(You know they all... pretend)__  
__You're the pretender__  
__What if I say that I'll never surrender?___

_So who are you?__  
__Yeah, who are you?__  
__Yeah, who are you?__  
_


	5. How To Save A Life

**How To Save A Life...**

Ianto just sat at the piano, randomly tapping the keys. He was in the music room the band used when they rehearsed. The band... Owen, Lisa, Jack and Gwen were stuck in the Principal's office, being yelled at. Ianto felt guilty... the Principal had let him go, because of his young, innocent looks. The Principal refused to believe that Ianto wanted to perform the song just as much as the others, and so he was let go. Ianto wished he was with the others... he had waited for an hour outside the door, practically begging to be let in with the others, to share in their misery, but eventually he gave up and returned to his place of solace- the music room. He was scared for them- before he left, it had sounded like somebody was going to get hurt, and he couldn't have that. Blood on his hands- something he just couldn't stomach.

He kept tapping the piano keys, his mind wandering. Suddenly, he had an idea. He got up, rushed over to the desk and picked up a pen and some lined paper, and began scrawling the words in his head. After about five minutes of writing, he transferred the songs onto a sheet of piano music, and began hitting the notes with care. He started singing, first in a hushed whisper, then, without knowing it, he was singling out loud. He didn't even notice the door open, or the young, dark-haired teenager walking in, but he _did_ notice the hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump, and the piano lid to slam down, causing a gigantic 'crash' of the keys.

"Don't do that!" He squeaked, angrily eyeing the American behind him.

"Oh, come on!" Jack laughed, "I wanted to see what the Hell was going on in here. I must say, that sounded quite heavily. Mind if I have a quick read?"

Ianto was blushing for some reason he could not fathom, handing over the sheet of music he had written. Jack looked at it, smiling politely as his eyes skimmed the words. He replaced the sheets onto their resting place after a few seconds, before commanding; "Play it." Ianto wouldn't normally have obeyed a command so curt, but something about Jack just made him _want_ to follow the rules. He played the introduction, and after a few moments, began to sing;

_Step one you say we need to talk__  
__He walks you say sit down it's just a talk__  
__He smiles politely back at you__  
__You stare politely right on through__  
__Some sort of window to your right__  
__As he goes left and you stay right__  
__Between the lines of fear and blame__  
__You begin to wonder why you came_

Jack couldn't believe it- Ianto was _brilliant_! He was a whiz at piano-playing, and his voice carried the song so well. While he was being yelled at by the Principal ("I cannot believe that you would have allowed your band to produce such satanic filth! Have you no shame? No compassion? No emotion?") Jack had gone a step ahead and wanted to look through Owen's book once more, just to check if there was anything with more emotion. But, as he slid onto the bench with Ianto, he could feel that he had the emotion he needed to even things out.

_  
__Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life__  
_

Ianto felt himself blush again as Jack sat next to him on the bench. Even more so when Jack seemed to catch onto the rhythm of the song;

_  
__Let him know that you know best__  
__Cause after all you do know best__  
__Try to slip past his defence__  
__Without granting innocence__  
__Lay down a list of what is wrong__  
__The things you've told him all along__  
__And pray to God he hears you__  
__And pray to God he hears you___

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life___

_As he begins to raise his voice__  
__You lower yours and grant him one last choice__  
__Drive until you lose the road__  
__Or break with the ones you've followed__  
__He will do one of two things__  
__He will admit to everything__  
__Or he'll say he's just not the same__  
__And you'll begin to wonder why you came___

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life__  
__Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life__  
__How to save a life__  
__How to save a life___

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life___

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
__Had I known how to save a life__  
__How to save a life_

They sat there in silence for a minute, before Jack finally asked; "What spurred that on?"

"You know what." He whispered, sounding ashamed.

"I would have let you go too, if I were him." Jack admitted.

"Why?"

"Because he was right- you do look too innocent. I supposed you _are_ too innocent, really. You've got these really big blue eyes, and whenever you look at someone directly in the eye, you make them feel really warm and smiley."

"No I don't." Ianto whispered, keeping his eyes downcast. "Besides, how would you know?"

Jack shrugged, "That's how you make me feel when you look at me. Your eyes are pretty. And, just so you know, after we got out of his office, we were all worried about where you went. We thought you'd gotten all panicky and suicidal on us, so Owen and Lis went to check the Beacon Tower, just to make sure you didn't throw yourself from it. Gwen's in the Library, and me, well, this was my first guess." Ianto looked up at him, a weird, stirring sensation in his gut.

"Seriously?"

Jack gave a weird smile, almost as though he were admiring a bouquet of roses. "Yeah. I know you're a very private person, Yan, but I like to think I know more about you than you've let me."

"Like...?" Ianto asked, challenging the American, but was caught by surprise when he found Jack's lips resting softly on his own, and Jack's tongue gently easing its way into his mouth. The kiss lasted for all of seven seconds, when Jack broke it, leaving Ianto feeling light-headed and giddy.

"Like that." Jack smiled, getting up and leaving the room, leaving Ianto alone with his thoughts...


	6. God Forsaken

***to the tune of Burn Burn by Lost Prophets***

**God Forsaken**

_In this God-forsaken tomb I lie_

_Ever scorned by the deep blue sky_

_Shaken, stirred, slated, belated_

_By this God-damned demon, _

_The omen of the Fire Valley institution!_

_Scared and scarred that evil grey-_

_Tongued bastard won't see day_

_For eternity!_

_What the fuck is he doing to me?_

_I have dreams,_

_I have wants,_

_I have needs!_

_And he won't fucking take them_

_Away from me!_

_This fucking stony den_

_Won't hold shit if I have a say_

_So why has he locked me away?_

_I'm always in trouble with this dude_

_Singing in the canteen _

_When I should be eating,_

_Writing love songs _

_When I have too many wrongs_

_To right in this fucking prison_

_Of a school!_

_Where the fuck is Lisa?_

_He said she would be safer_

_If she wasn't with me!_

_He said she wouldn't get hurt,_

_That I'd be the one_

_Stuck in the fucking dirt!_

_He said I shouldn't swear_

_But I don't fucking care!_

_Don't you fucking dare hurt the others!_

_They had nothing to do with what I plan!_

_Like they could ever take my hand_

_And swear to bring you down!_

_Let's face it-_

_There's no room for your kind_

_In this little town!_

_Where's my friend _

_You fucking bastard?_

_There will be justice in the end,_

_And your kind will serve last quarter's!_


	7. Just a Kid

**Howdy people! Sorry I'm late- my damned GSCEs ran on ALL week! Gah, at least I only have four left to do- History, Biology, and two Chemistries! Ah well, here's what you've all been waiting for, and remember to review! More reviews means you'll get to see how it ends!**

**Just a Kid**

Ianto sat, stunned, by the piano in the music room. How had Jack known? How had he _known_? Ianto thought he had kept his attraction for Jack hidden so well under his apathetic cover, but if it was obvious to Jack, then to whom else was it obvious? The kiss still lingered on his lips, a gentle buzz of ecstasy. The tinder begging for heat to awaken the fire. He lost track of time, and so checked his watch- his watch was broken, but Ianto figure that he had been in the room for two hours. Well, half an hour since Jack had left. He still felt guilty about abandoning the rest of the band in the Principal's office, and thought he wouldn't be able to face them.

"Yan?" A timid Welsh voice called from the threshold. Ianto looked up, and saw Gwen Cooper hanging off the edge of the doorway, still dressed in the sparkly costume she had worn onstage. She peered around the entrance at him, before making her way to kneel by his side at the piano, taking a more submissive role than Jack had. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Ianto hesitated before answering; "Yes, why do you ask?"

"Jack said that you were feeling guilty and came here, and we waited for ages until we decided that you needed some company." On cue, Owen, Lisa and Jack entered the room, Jack taking a position next to Ianto on the piano bench. Ianto knelt his head in shame and fear- he didn't want company. He just wanted to be left alone. Jack sensed his unease and put a friendly arm around his shoulders, silently telling him not to feel so bad.

"If it cheers ya up," Owen said, carefully choosing his words. Ianto looked up, pricking his ears. "We found some dirt on the Principal." Owen lowered his voice. "And we all discussed it, but we need to run you through our plan first, before we tell you what it is."

Ianto couldn't take anymore- he knew that Torchwood meant trouble, and he couldn't face anymore trouble. Not today, not ever.

So he simply whispered "No." He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and looked up into Jack's shiny blue eyes. Ianto couldn't quite place his finger on it, but Jack looked... different, somehow. In fact, they all did- they looked... perfect, but still the same. More or less. Owen's hair was a richer shade of auburn, Lisa's eyes were more hypnotic than usual, Gwen's lips were redder and Jack's scent was... as intoxicating as it had always been.

"What?" Owen said, almost irritated. His eyes narrowed at Ianto, and he crossed his arms over his chest as the young Welshman tried to leave the room, only to be stopped by Jack who grabbed and held him against the wall. Jack then pressed his face close to Ianto's and his eyes lit aflame with rage as he growled; "Listen, kid- you're doing this whether you like it or not, and there's nothing you can do! Ya hear me?" Jack threw Ianto to the floor, and kicked him in the gut. Ianto gasped in pain and held back tears. He felt a sharp slap on his head, and suddenly there was only darkness.

He awoke hours later in a dank, dark dungeon, cold, hungry, thirsty, and alone. He eased his way into a painful sitting position, and noticed that his right ankle was cuffed to the wall. He whimpered in fear as he tried to get his bearings, but it was the slow, steady rhythm of the metallic scraping which _really_ brought him over the edge...


	8. Fool Me Once

_Hey there. Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. Just what with graduating, my exam results coming out next month, the tragically untimely death of *chokes back tears* Ianto in the (heartless!) Day Four episode of Children of Earth and working on 'The Memoirs of Ianto Jones', I haven't been able to tap into my muse regardless of how much I try. I'm still unable to sup the nourishing nectar from the teat of my muse, but my little sister, Kaseykc, has been bugging me non-stop for a chapter, and I figured it was about time to update. It's a bit shit, but I did warn you about my muse trying to wean me off of its inspiration-giving nectar._

**Fool Me Once...**

"Ianto!" Jack was happy to see the young Welshman, Gwen could see that. Had neither of them been chained to separate walls, then for sure they would have been hugging each other until neither could breathe. She saw Ianto look up, but the cellar was so dark that she couldn't make out the expression on his face. In fact, she couldn't see either of them! She knew that Ianto was right next to her, while Owen and Lisa were locked in separate rooms.

"What the fuck?" Ianto scrambled back, knocking Gwen in the ribs. She screamed in surprise and pain. "Sorry... Gwen?" She could hear him scramble back even further, but the short length of the chains meant that he could only move about a centimetre. "Stay the fuck away from me!"

"Ianto!" Gwen grabbed a hold of his ankle and pulled him an inch closer to her. "Please don't hurt me! Please, please don't!" He was practically begging.

"Ianto, don't be daft!" Gwen said, caringly. "Why would I ever want to hurt you?"

"Because I'm nothing but a worthless, cowardly kid! You should know- you said it yourself!" Gwen was taken aback- she could never, _ever_ say _any_thing like that about somebody she loved as dearly as Ianto.

_Poor little lamb,_ she thought to herself, _he's had a bad dream_. A low, flickering light came on, slightly illuminating the gloom. By the meagre light, she could tell that it was just the three of them- Jack, Ianto, and Gwen.

"What?" Gwen whispered, confused. She barely heard herself, so she couldn't be sure that Ianto heard her. Then again, that metallic scraping was still going on. She leant up against the wall, and struggled into a hunched standing position, pulling her t-shirt down, looking up... and staring right into a pair of brown eyes at the top of- what appeared to be- a stair case which remarkably resembled her own. She was confused as the eyes slowly made their way down to floor level. Gwen felt a knot tie itself in her lungs as she gasped in fear and a fist clench in her stomach as she buckled to her knees in preparation to vomit. As the eyes made their way towards her, Gwen spied a black-and-white tartan skirt- _her_ black-and-white tartan skirt- a black t-shirt decorated with two | marks and a / beneath them making a smiley face- _her_ black t-shirt decorated with two | marks and a / beneath them making a smiley face- and _her_ black converse trainers. She went to scream as an _exact_ duplicate of herself came through the gloom of the light and closed her hand around her mouth.

"Quiet!" The Gwen double hissed, showing her teeth like a rabid dog on cocaine. "Sit!"

The real Gwen obeyed, leaning against the wall, while her double's hand remained on her mouth.

Jack and Ianto sat in fear, pressed up against their walls, too numb with fear to say or do anything. A bead of sweat slowly heaved itself down Jack's neck, while Ianto was crying dry tears.

"Don't say a word." The double whispered, licking her ruby-coloured lips with an ash-grey tongue and icily scanning the other two prisoners in the cellar. "Don't move a muscle." Again, they all obeyed. The double smiled, realising just how easy her prey was going to be. She revelled in the metallic scraping the Principal had ordered, and looked up. Instinctively, Jack, Ianto and the real Gwen looked up as well, fearing for their lives.

The doubled discreetly looked down and smiled at her prey, almost laughing at just how stupid they looked. Hypnotised by nothing. She reached beneath her skirt, and pulled the knife from where the female anatomy would indicate the start of the reproductive cycle. She made her way to the American boy, and just as she was about to sacrifice him, his head snapped down, and he launched himself at her while the other two stared dumbly at the ceiling. He American landed punches on her face, torso and neck. When he was finished with the punches, Jack flipped her over and slammed her on the floor. He laughed, and smiled, showing his teeth.

"Fool me once," he muttered, "shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." With that, he turned his attention to freeing Gwen and Ianto.


	9. Spieluhr

_Hey guys- sorry it took so long to come out with this chapter. I've been pretty busy- a friend and I are going to try and publish our own Torchwood Novel so that's taken up a lot of time, and I'm still suffering from a severe case of Janto flu as a result of the BBC's heartless act of murder. Also, I'm working on a series about Norse Mythology which I'm trying to get published, so that's taking up a lot of my Summer as well. Anyway, I've decided to make this chapter a short, fluffy one between Jack and Ianto. It's a bit crap and cliché, but then again I'm rubbish at the lovey-dovey stuff between characters (unless I've created them myself, which is a __**VERY**__ different story, or I'm in the mood to do something lovey-dovey). _

_I named this chapter after my favourite Rammstein song- Spieluhr- but the song used is by Nightwish, and the song reminded me of... well, I've used it as the "reminded Ianto of..." so you'll find out soon enough._

_Enjoy._

**Spieluhr (Music Box) **

When Ianto woke up, he didn't expect it to be in Jack's arms, he didn't expect Jack to be stroking his hair, and he certainly didn't expect Jack to be staring at him as though he were a work of art. Ianto blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light.

"I forgot how beautiful your eyes were." He whispered. Ianto just grunted, and tried to sit up. "No, don't get up. You and Gwen were hypnotised."

"Jack?" Ianto groaned. "Hypnotised?"

"Yeah," Jack said softly, stroking the Welshman's hair.

"But you... tried to kill me."

Jack shook his head and kissed Ianto's forehead. "No," he whispered. "Ianto, I found out something about this place, and we need to get out of here- we gotta find Owen and Lisa, and then wake up Gwen. This place is pure evil."

Ianto's eyes widened in pain, confusion and apprehension. "You tried to kill me."

"Ianto- I could never hurt you."

"Why?"

Jack held Ianto in his arms and cuddled him close. "When I first met you, I didn't want anything to do with you- to me you were just some Welsh kid who looked screwed up. I even tried to avoid you on our first day, but then the Principal allocated us to share a room with Owen, and I was even gonna ask if I could to a room-change, then that whole scene in the cafeteria and Torchwood... the point is, these past few weeks I've gotten to know you, no matter how silent you've been... you're so smart, talented, wonderful... and beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Ianto sounded surprised as Jack continued stroking his hair.

"Sh," Jack sighed and looked around. Ianto strained to look as well, and saw Gwen sleeping peacefully by the staircase, while the Gwen clone- the Anti-Gwen, Ianto dubbed her- was chained up with... were they _mouse tails_? "Don't worry about either of them." Jack soothed, still stroking Ianto's hair. "I sent Gwen to sleep, and knocked out the other one- thank fuck for Aviation Mech. You're weak, Ianto, and before we can do anything, the both of you need to be full rested." With that, Jack began singing a soft tune, which reminded Ianto of a music box his grandmother had given him when he was a child.

"_In your creation heaven did decree_

_That in your arms sweet death should dwell._

_Deep silent complete_

_Black Velvet Sea_

_The sirens are calling for me_

_Saved my soul thinking 'this song is a lie'_

_Sand on the shore is so dry_

_Deep silent complete_

_Black Velvet Sea_

_Brave day sinking in endless night_

_The age will say 'this poet lies'_

_Heaven never touched earthly face_

_The age will say 'this night was ours'_

_Blessed with the deep_

_The silent, _

_The complete"_

Slowly, Ianto's eyelids drifted shut, and he fell into blissful sleep in Jacks strong arms.


	10. The Oblivious

_Hey there. _

_I know I've been spending a lot of time around Jack and Ianto, so I figured I'd focus more on the 'evil' side of Fire Valley that Jack mentioned in Spieluhr. I've named this chapter after my favourite Blue Gillespie song- The Oblivious- simply because I'm listening to it right now and it has provided the inspiration I needed, so my muse is now lactating, and I have to sup the nectar before the flow stops._

_Enjoy,_

_G, xxx_

**The Oblivious**

The Principal looked at the computer screen and smiled. All twenty-seven Units were in place, and all twenty students were safely locked away in... The Principal's smile softened a little to form a distasteful frown. There was something strange about one of the lower cellars. While the twenty students glowed a bright red, four other items below glowed a shocking blue.

* * *

The ventilation shaft was tighter than Jack would have liked, but if he was right, then the three of them would be free within the next five seconds...

* * *

Lisa turned to her double, and hissed like a cat as she struggled against the chains.

"Keep struggling," the double said in a sing-song voice. "You'll only make it worse."

"How the hell could this be worse?"

* * *

Owen looked up at the castle, panted, mopping sweat from his brow and straightened out his filthy clothes. Where was Lisa? She was supposed to be there, with him right at that moment. Didn't she know what was happening today?

* * *

Ianto landed with a 'thud' on top of Jack, and Gwen in turn landed on top of him. She rolled off of them, and shakily staggered out into the open, while the boys followed suit as they clung onto each other for support.

"What the hell..." Gwen was about to finish with "were we doing down there?", but a loud siren cut her off, and people came rushing out of the building.

* * *

Lisa had managed to shake off the shackles and was just in the midst of smashing her double's head against the mirror, scattering the various tubes of make-up and toiletries onto the floor, when the siren ended, and the beeping began...

* * *

Owen spotted the three of them staring up in wonder at the castle, gazing into the purple smoke that spilled from twenty-seven crevices in the walls.

"Principal calls it 'fumigation'," Owen explained solemnly. "It's really gas-bombs placed wherever trapped students are held so that their doubles can escape safely while the original person is quickly and painlessly choked to death."

All three of them turned and looked at Owen with wide, awe-filled eyes.

"Come with me," he said quietly, looking at the floor, and turning to walk to their hiding spot. The others followed, their eyes still glued in puzzlement to the purple smoke.

* * *

"Welcome," the Principal said in Japanese, turning towards the middle-aged Japanese woman dragging her young daughter by the arm across the field. When the woman stopped, he continued; "Don't mind this," he said, waving his arms at the purple smoke. "It's merely our monthly fumigation routine- to ensure that the aura of the school is kept clean and peaceful."

"I'm here to drop off my daughter," the woman said in her native tongue, thrusting the girl into the Principal. She bent down to the girl's level and said; "Take care of yourself, and remember not to blow up the computers like you did at home!" With that, she turned on her heel, and left the frightened girl by the Principal's side. He smiled down into her slanted brown eyes and asked; "Can you speak English?"

"Yes," the girl muttered, edging away from and looking up at him. "It was my best subject at my last school." She had a soft voice, touched slightly by anxiety.

"Don't worry," the Principal soothed. "I won't bite. What is your name, girl?"

"Toshiko," she whimpered. "But everybody calls me Tosh."

"Very well then, Tosh," he grinned, putting his hand on her shoulder and guiding her to the building. "Come to my office- we can arrange your lessons immediately."

"Is this place evil?" She asked. The Principal thought she sounded like she knew, but he dismissed it with another of his smiles. He looked down at her calmly.

"No, but many of the students here believe so." Just to the side of the castle, he caught a flash of the young boy with hard brown eyes and a stern look on his face glaring at him. The Principal's smile faded. As he added; "Pay no attention to them."


	11. Whiskey In The Jar

_Hi- sorry it's taken so long to upload. My Angels of the Valley series plus the Children of Torchwood novels.... well; they've kind of messed up my writing schedule, even more so considering that Char and I have decided to write a second one! Then I got my results on August 28__th__, so I spent the day with Mum and her phoning everyone she knew so that I could tell them what I got -.- Fun. THEN I had to make a last-minute rush to get stuff for college, and found that I have a reading list from which I have to buy most of the books for English, and then I had to finally start college, and that took forever to settle into. Oh well, at least there's _one_ decent boy in my classes ;-).Oh, and I might be going to Italy in a few months, so I have to improve my Italian. So, I'm on half term now, meaning that I have the week off college to catch up on my homework, but I figured I'd start with some creative writing, so I could _finally_ update this story! Sorry it's so short- I haven't had much inspiration as of late. Enjoy..._

**Whiskey in the Jar**

"You see," Owen said softly, bowing his head as he settled into the shade of the tree. "This 'school' is not technically a school."

Jack looked at him for a moment, cocking his head to the side and smiling a little. "That's right." He said after a moment. He looked at Gwen, then Owen, and then Ianto. Out of the three of them, Owen was the one who looked the least surprised. Well, he didn't look surprised _at all_, and Jack knew why.

"Would you like to explain, Agent?" Owen smiled, looking directly the 51st-Century teenager. He chanced a peek at Gwen and Ianto- they looked ready to pass out.

"_Agent_?" Ianto gasped, looking at Jack. "What's he on about?"

Jack panicked. He had always known that this would come at some point, but he hadn't prepared what he was going to say. He took a breath, and let everything shutter off.

"I'm not exactly from around these parts," he said solemnly, the sadness stemming from the fact that he knew he was hurting Ianto in some way. "Not even this time. No, Ianto, close your mouth- I need to say this. I'm from the 51st century. I know that doesn't seem possible, but see on my wrist, this strap I've been wearing all the time? It's a vortex manipulator. I can jump between time gaps and periods."

"A few years ago," Owen jumped in, lifting his head slightly. "My dad set up a small, experimental research field with a few people in his faculty. Their aim was to prove that a window between centuries could be built so that we can literally set foot in the past and the future without harm, and come back. They were successful, and the window opened to the 51st century, where they found Jack's family. The field became more and more elaborate and experimental, and they eventually invented those wrist-straps. Now, it's an agency. An underground agency. They haven't named it yet, and my dad wouldn't even tell me what they did, but that does mean Jack and I met long before you two thought we met."

"Jack?" Ianto was hurt, but he didn't know why.

"Ianto, I'm sorry," Jack apologised, feeling a tug at his heartstrings as he watched Ianto's beautiful blue eyes fill with tears.

"Jack, no time," Owen said urgently, looking behind the tree. "The school is aimed at creating the 'perfect' students, 'perfect' citizens. Shit like that. Listen- we've got to go now. Music room. Pronto!"


	12. Stand My Ground

_Hi guys. Sorry, but this one is quite sad, and the song is locked into my mood- sadness, because I found out yesterday that my Italian teacher is leaving :'( I'm really, really sorry about this chapter, and I know you're all going to hate me..._

_BETA'd by the wonderful kaseykc_

**Stand My Ground**

It had been weeks since the 'fumigation' that had taken Lisa's life, and now Torchwood were given the charge of taking care of the latest addition to the school - Toshiko Sato. They were scared - not even Lisa's clone had gotten out alive. The Principal had lied to her parents, the Hallets, saying that she had been standing next to a ventilation shaft and hadn't woken up from becoming intoxicated by the gas. Only Owen, Jack, Ianto and Gwen knew what had really happened, more so Jack and Owen because they were actually 'agents' investigating events at FVA. Ianto was more depressed than most - sure he had a crush on Jack, but really he'd wanted Lisa because she was the only one he felt hadn't played him. He had even taken to writing some more, which had led Owen to take a backseat in the creativity, and he'd took the time to learn the acoustic guitar. Jack had taken up the piano, simply because he loved Ianto's 'How To Save A Life' song, and wanted to surprise him for his birthday by performing it. Gwen, meanwhile, just sat in a depressive state - Lisa was the only other girl she had known who had wanted to be friends with her, and now she was gone... and that Japanese girl seemed to be trying a little _too_ hard. The Principal had appointed her to replace Lisa as the 'Special Effects' person, and while she was better than Lisa professionally, she just didn't match up to her predecessor.

The band liked Tosh, but they weren't that keen on her - they thought she was a spy for the Principal because she was too good with computers for a fifteen-year-old. She sat at her laptop a lot of the time, not looking at any of them. Ianto assessed the situation, and went right to Jack, the man who had more or less played him like the instruments in the music room - when Ianto had wanted Lisa, it had been like Jack was guiding him away from her, and had prevented him from sharing his feelings with her. The day Lisa had died was the day he became truly aware of what was happening, and he didn't like it one bit.

"The Harvest concert is next week," he said solemnly. "I think it should be our last."

"What?" Jack stuttered, grabbing the arms of his armchair. "Why?

Ianto shrugged, "We're going nowhere - we're stuck with someone we can't get along with, the material I've been writing is depressing, Owen's spending a little too much time with the acoustic guitar, Gwen won't do anything, and it looks like I'm next in line for 'fumigation'. I can't take it, Jack - you played me, and I don't want to be part of something that'll never go anywhere."

He expected Jack to shout, scream and throw a fit, but he didn't do any of that. He just nodded and said "I understand.", then called Gwen and Owen- they were going to rehearse for their final concert, which neither of the latter two seemed to mind that much - they were having similar thoughts.

* * * * * * * *

When they were in the music room, Owen handed out sheet music and lyrics. "Something I've been working on," he said, not looking at any of them. "Just a bit of a 'fuck you' to the Principal for what he's been doing." The band looked at the music, and for one second they felt united, truly happy. Then the reality sunk in.

"Maybe we should all sing with this one," said Jack. "Make it something special." They agreed. The piano music sounded Anglo-Egyptian, while Gwen though lead guitar sounded like a classical acoustic number, and Ianto thought his bass tab sounded too complex for him to be playing, and Owen knew that his drum beat was too simple, but he believed that it kept the song level, and wouldn't override the vocals;

Gwen:

_I can see__  
__when you stay low nothing happens__  
__Does it feel right?__  
_

Ianto:_  
__Late at night__  
__things I thought I'd put behind me__  
__haunt my mind__  
_

Jack:_  
__I just know there's no escape now__  
__once it's set its eyes on you__  
__but I won't run, have to stare it in the eye__  
_

All:_  
__Stand my ground, I won't give in__  
__No more denying, I gotta face it__  
__Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside__  
__If I don't make it, someone else will__  
__Stand My Ground_

Owen:_  
__It's all around__  
__getting stronger, coming closer__  
__into my world___

_I can feel__  
__that it's time for me to face it__  
__can I take it?__  
_

Ianto:_  
__Though this might just be the ending__  
__of the life I held so dear__  
__but I won't run, there's no turning back from here__  
_

All:_  
__Stand my ground, I won't give in__  
__No more denying, I gotta face it__  
__Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside__  
__If I don't make it, someone else will__  
__Stand My Ground__  
_

Ianto and Gwen:_  
__All I know for sure is I'm trying__  
__I will always stand my ground__  
_

All: _  
__Stand my ground, I won't give in (I won't give in)__  
__I won't give up (I won't give up)__  
__no more denying, I got to face it__  
__won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside__  
__if I don't make it, someone else will (x2)__  
_

_Stand My Ground._

_**End note from Beta: BTW just ignore Gav's little rant at the beginning, she knows you'll love it!**_


End file.
